Amrish Kilachand Files Intervention Application in Supreme Court of India Live Streaming Case Started by Indira Jaising

Original Story: https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/06/prweb15579559.htm

Well known businessman Amrish Kilachand, who is a member of one of the richest Gujarati business families in Mumbai, has filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court of India to move the court to approve transcription services for all courtrooms in India, similar to what they have in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and other developed nations.

Kilachand who attended university in the United States and has a degree in Business Administration said that he believed the Indian courts needed to modernize their processes to come into the 21st century.

"We need to have more transparency and the citizens of India deserve proper access to justice and transcription services are a very important addition that is needed in our legal system" stated Kilachand when asked for comment at his Mumbai residence.
The original Petition, in which Kilachand has filed as an intervenor, was filed by one of India's best-known lawyers, Ms. Indira Jaising.

Ms. Jaising is an Indian lawyer who is noted for her legal activism in promoting human rights causes. In her Petition, she has requested that in cases of national importance, which are heard in the Supreme Court of India, be live-streamed so that the public knows what is happening on major issues that impact citizens in the world's largest democracy.

Senior Advocate Indira Jaising Moves Supreme Court of India For Live Streaming Of Court Proceedings In Important Cases: http://www.livelaw.in/breaking-senior-advocate-indira-jaising-moves-sc-live-streaming-court-proceedings-important-case/

Support live-streaming of proceedings in the Supreme Court of India

Indira Jaising - Wikipedia -

Ms. Jaising has cited the Supreme Court of Canada as one of the examples of live streaming in apex courts in the world.

On Monday March, 26th, 2018 - well known Mumbai lawyer - Parsi - Jamshed Mistry appeared in court for Mr. Kilachand. Mr. Omprakash Parihar, the lawyer on record that filed the original intervention application for Mr. Killachand was tied up in another matter, in the same courthouse, on the same day and could not attend in person.

Kilachand has much experience in various courts throughout India having been involved in litigation with family properties and businesses etc. for a number of years. 

In Uttarakhand the property registration laws were changed due to Kilachand pushing for reform after he had to deal with the courts there to regain ancestral assets that rightfully belonged to him and his family.

One of the most famous litigations he has been involved in is the multi-hundred crore property dispute over the Kilachand House, which is located in the heart of Mumbai.
Kilachand House is a three-storey palace with 25 bedrooms sitting in the middle of Napean Sea Road in Mumbai. The property has a regal courtyard with artistically done staircases, ornate beams and balconies.

Kilachand House was once home to the Maharaja of Patiala. The British invited five Parsi families into the ship-building business from Surat to settle in Mumbai and one of them built this palace in the late 1880s. The property soon changed hands from the Parsis to royalty.

At the time, many rulers of princely states vied with each other to build palaces on what was then called the Street of Maharajas.

“The princes wanted proximity to the governor who had shifted from what is now Haffkine Institute to the Hunting Lodge in Malabar Hill, which is now the Raj Bhavan,” stated Anita Garware, chairperson of the Indian Heritage Society.

Along the route to Kilachand House one will see Samudra Mahal at Haji Ali, Poonam Chambers at Worli, Kolhapur palace on Warden Road (now a petrol pump), palace of the Maharajah of Bansda, where the Atomic Energy Commission is located and the Wankaner State Residency further down the road at Breach Candy (now the US Consulate).

“Only Kilachand House still has the old world grandeur,” said the heritage expert. She did go on to say that pragmatism needed to also be taken into account due to the huge space crunch in the city and that Kilachand’s adaptive reuse needed to be thought about.

The value of Kilachand House today is considered to be upwards of 1500 crore according to some estimates.


Well-known Canadian activist, businessman, author, and freedom of speech advocate Mr. Satinder Dhillon was also in court with Mr. Mistry and Ms. Jaising in Delhi.

Satinder Dhillon (Left) & Jamshed Mistry (Right) 
at the Supreme Court of India

Dhillon is the founder of Global Strategic Solutions and the transcripts from the historic freedom of speech case he fought in Canada were filed as the only exhibit in Kilachand's intervention application to highlight the importance of transcripts in court cases.

Global Strategic Solutions

A movie is being made about the case Dhillon fought in Canada. India's top screenwriter, Mr. Anjum Rajabali, is currently working on the script about Dhillon's life.

India’s Top Screenwriter Delivers Aamir Khan and Priyanka Chopra’s Next Script And Is Going To Write Biopic About Modern Day Revolutionary - Satinder Dhillon Next:

There is also a Netflix series that is being discussed which is to be based on the life of Dhillon.

Dhillon was in India in February 2018 as he had traveled in India as a part of the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau's, trade delegation. He was in India for almost two months for various conferences and meetings pertaining in part to the work he is doing with Mistry, Kilachand, Parihar and Jaising with regards to improving the legal system in India.



Dhillon, who was in Mumbai for meetings regarding the script that is being written about his life and the possible Netflix series, has traveled to India several times in the past few years. His company Global Strategic Solutions is currently in the process of setting up their offices in the Bandra Kurla Complex area in Mumbai.

"Being born in Canada and believing what I was taught by the education system and then going out into the real world has been an incredible journey. Learning about the business and legal world over the course of the last two decades, after leaving university, has been very eye-opening to say the least" stated Dhillon.

"My hope now is to assist the world with the knowledge I have acquired and paid for with my time on the planet thus far, which has come at a great personal cost to my friends and family and I"

"What good is it having gone through all of the hardships we did if we cannot help others now with what we've learned. If we don't do that, then everything we went through was for no good reason at all. As the saying goes 'it's not what you do with what they took but what you do with what you have left'. The process has taught us a lot and now we have solutions to offer, which are based on the real world experience we have all gained".

"I am a firm believer that we are all connected to the same universal energy and are from the same source and need to work together to improve the world. Along the journey in this life there will always be times that we need to clear the path and fight some battles and root out problems but the overall goal has to be to heal the world and bring people together. You cannot let the anger of past hurts consume you otherwise it's easy to lose the will to move forward constructively”.

"The way I look at it is, if Nelson Mandela could forgive the perpetrators for their actions then what we went through at the hands of certain individuals and corporations also must be forgiven so that we can move forward. That doesn't mean we've forgotten, it just means we've chosen to turn our pain into power and use our talents to empower others and ourselves, instead of living in the victim's mentality. As the saying goes - 'To forgive is divine but to forget is stupid'” added Dhillon.

Jamshed Mistry is one of India’s top lawyers and is also a member of the Canadian Bar Association and has done extensive work on behalf of the disabled and other marginalized people in India. A major part of his practice is public interest litigation and pro bono work and he has the most Amicus Curiae appointments in the country.

He is counsel to the Supreme Court in India as well as various High Courts throughout India. Mistry holds degrees in Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Diplomas in Labour Laws and Labour Welfare (DLL & LW). He attended school in Vienna and Mumbai.

Mr. Mistry has an extensive and varied background. He is the former President of the Entertainment Lawyers Association in India and his clients include the Reserve Bank of India and the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking as well as other public sector corporations and institutions.

Mistry is also very well known for his social activism and spends much of his time working for social causes, particularly the rights of disabled persons and he is on the sub-committee of the Planning Commission which is reviewing the legislation for disabled persons in India.

He has had vast experience in dealing with the media and entertainment industry and has been a consultant to several corporate agencies as well as high profile individual celebrity clients. He is a member of the Media Information and Communication Centre of India and has helped establish the Entertainment, Media and Information Lawyers Association (E.M.I.L.A) in India.

Mistry travels often to Canada and he is on the board of directors of the Indo Canadian Business Chamber in Mumbai. He is also on the advisory board of VISAFF Canada (Vancouver International South Asian Film festival) and several International fashion weeks held in various cities in India and around the world. He is also on the advisory board of the Money Life Foundation which was founded by Padma Shri award-winning journalist and author Sucheta Dalal.

Mistry was the legal consultant for the largest English daily newspaper in the world (The Times of India), for their inaugural awards show in Vancouver, Canada in April of 2013. And he negotiated the terms of the $14 million investment that was made by the British Columbia Provincial Government for TOIFA (Times of India Film Awards).

Mistry is also the Vice President of the World Zoroastrian Chambers of Commerce and on the advisory committee of the US – India Investors Forum. Recently, he has been appointed the senior legal advisor to the International Delphic Council who are in the process of organizing the International Delphic Games, which is known as the Olympics for Art, Performing Arts and Culture.

Mr. Mistry’s professional knowledge, skill-sets, and humanity have all led to an incredibly positive experience for those that have dealt with him the world over and he believes that transcription services are of the utmost importance for Indian courts to implement in order to modernize the courts and provide equal access to justice for all.

Mistry has established strong alliances with power brokers on a global level for mutual sharing of resources and information and he along with Kilachand and Dhillon is spearheading what he believes will be a watershed moment in the history of India’s legal system.

Mr. Mistry is also the founder of the International Legal Alliance, which is a network of independent legal professionals from all over the world.

Mistry has also assisted Dhillon in Canada during his historic freedom of speech case with strategic advice. Mr. Dhillon fought most of the trial on his own and with his close friend and associate Emmet Pierce (both lay litigants) assisting him. Together Pierce and Dhillon accomplished in court what most believed was impossible at the time.

Mistry along with Mark Stephens (who is considered one of the best media and intellectual property lawyers in the world and represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange) and Martin Garbus (who has represented Nelson Mandela, Al Pacino, Eminem, Sean Connery, Robert Redford, Spike Lee, Martin Lawrence, Nobel Prize winners and political dissidents such as Vaclav Havel and many others and is considered one of the best trial lawyers in the world) assisted with key advice along the way to Dhillon.

Mistry also attended the court in person as well for the pivotal hearing that took place on September 17th, 2014. The transcripts of which were attached by Kilachand in the Supreme Court of India.

Mistry who is a close friend of Mr. Satinder Dhillon and is also a legal advisor to GSS (Global Strategic Solutions), a company that was founded by Dhillon after having over 20 years of business and courtroom experience.

"It's a win-win situation. Everybody’s life improves if transcripts are put into Indian courtrooms" stated Dhillon.

"Through implementing transcription services transparency increases in the courts and access to justice for the disabled is made available as mandated by the - MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE – Legislative Department’s - THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ACT which was put into place in New Delhi on December 28th, 2016. This is also good for the economy because it creates jobs and gives the courts added revenues. “

"By making the courts more transparent, it will increase trade as well, because a stronger judicial system is always going to be welcomed by the international business community and lots of individuals and companies are looking to do business in India these days" stated Dhillon

"I've been coming to Mumbai since 2014 and we are setting up our offices here now as well and I feel honored to be able to assist the country of my parents birth by helping to strengthen the legal system. I feel it’s more of an honor than work. It makes the pain we went through worth it if others will not have to suffer in the same way in the future. It is crucial that what goes on in court be recorded and quite frankly I was surprised the first time I went to the court in Mumbai and saw that there are no recorders on, as I had become quite accustomed to seeing them in Canada”.

"India has always been kind to me and reporters in this country covered my story when no one else in the world would. Two senior journalists Swati Deshpande - Times of India and Sucheta Dulal - a Padma Shri award winner - helped me when a lot of others weren't willing to tackle the story and for this, I am forever grateful and appreciative for the bravery they showed".

"It's been quite the change in my life these past few years after battling major corporations and corruption in the Canadian courts for almost two decades".

"One day I'm being prosecuted by the system for the allegation of writing truthful blogs and not being allowed to use the truth in court to defend myself and the next I'm being invited to be a part of the Prime Minister's trade delegation. It has been quite the breathtaking turn of events for me that’s for sure”.

"Canada is a great country for these types of reasons, as it is one of the only places in the world that my story could exist. I sincerely appreciate the time I spent speaking to the Prime Minister and his wife and the many other Members of Parliament and government officials that accompanied him on the trip to India in February”.

"For a kid who grew up in a small farming community (Abbotsford) in Canada to be doing the things I am now was always the dream. I remember daydreaming about what life would be like when I didn't have to work on the farm anymore and was told by my parents that if I got an education I could get a "suit and tie" job. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the work that farmers do because I know how difficult it really is”.

"My father used to say 'son you were born with Canadian citizenship and your birthright was a Canadian passport, something it took me almost 30 years of my life to get to, there isn’t anything you can’t do in this world’.”

"He would explain to me what a great head start I had by being born in Canada and what a great country it was. He also would tell me all the good things about India and how he longed to return. He eventually did return to India and unfortunately passed away there in 1996”

“It is my belief that his soul was always longing to be back home. He loved Canada and was forever grateful for all of what he experienced there as well but India was close to his heart, always”.

“I had the best of both worlds in terms of living in Canada but also hearing great stories about India as well and now I feel so grateful to be able to say I live part of the year in India and that we are setting up offices for our various companies here. This trip has really changed my life, that’s for sure”.

"My father was an engineer in India and my mother was a teacher and in Canada they had to do labor jobs. It’s the immigrant story that we've all heard many times and is also my parents story as well. It's not until you get older that you really appreciated what sacrifices our parents made for us by moving to a new country as adults".

"The journey has been an interesting one for me between India and Canada and there have been many fortunate twists and turns and now looking in hindsight the dots are connecting. As Steve Jobs says in one of his famous speeches......'you can only connect the dots in reverse'.

All of what I went through brought me back to the country of my parents birth and for this, I am truly grateful to Canada. Had I not gone through what I did I may have forgotten my roots. God brought me back to India and I thank the universe for that. India holds a special place in my heart that’s for sure”.

“To be assisting the world’s largest democracy in strengthening their judicial system is a privilege for me and it is great to be working with Mr. Kilachand, Mr. Mistry, Mr. Parihar and Ms. Jaising and the whole team that is behind the scenes doing amazing work in this matter” stated Dhillon.
Update:

Supreme Court of India - May 5th, 2018: The Attorney General of India has agreed that transcripts are needed in Indian courts and a further hearing of Ms. Jaising’s Petition will be heard on July 5th, 2018.

Comments